The Fast Way to Escape "Intellectual Yet Idiot"

The Intellectual Yet Idiot is a production of modernity hence has been accelerating since the mid twentieth century, to reach its local supremum today, along with the broad category of people without skin-in-the-game who have been invading many walks of life.

There are many ways I don’t meet the criteria for this designation, although I have commenters here and on Facebook who would nominate me in a heartbeat. For them, I’ve got the trump card (sorry!):

I have read Ammianus Marcellinus (Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s spelling needs a little upgrade.) It was on my “want to read” list for many years, but only got the chance earlier this year. The timing was good: Marcellinus spent a lot of time in Rome’s war with the Persians, and I had just spent five years with some of their descendants. That made the work all the more vivid, and coupled with my interest in Late Roman history, it was a fabulous read.